The Four Aces

This is America; land of the free, home of the brave. In four major cities around the country, a criminal organization flourished in its dealings. The Four Aces, as they were known, is probably the biggest multi-generational gathering of gangsters and criminals in the land. They had a finger in almost every business which had to pay them a regular sum of money since the inception of the Aces’ and the business’ new alliance. In return, not the protection that the lowlife scum promised where a rival gang would happily lay waste to the business and the protection would be none the wiser; instead, the Aces provided protection like ‘soldiers’ to guard their investments and their interests. Because, you see, loyalty means everything to them. With the police cracking down on crime lately, they are stepping up their game. They need all the help they can get for one great heist that would earn them their crown.

***

The Duke of Diamonds (Atlantic City)
The Baron of Spades (New York)
The Lord of Hearts (Miami)
The Bishop of Clubs (Boston)
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Chapters:

Blackjack clung to the back swoop
of the truck as it sped furiously down the highway, narrowly
avoiding collision by miracles much less than inches. He turned
and pressed his back flat against the truck's cargo door, his
eyes falling upon the huge armada of police cars racing towards
them.

"Smokey on our tail!" He shouted,
banging the side of the truck to get the driver's attention and
telling him to speed up.

Blackjack waited while the police
started to close the distance. He wasn't worried, even though the
Duke of Diamonds and his daughter were leading the convoy. They'd
be able to make it out of this, most of the time they did

He pulled his handgun from the
holster underneath his coat and kept it steady in his hand. He
weighed it to check if it had any rounds in it and once
satisfied, he pulled back the hammer to load a round into the
chamber. His free hand was in the air, directing the rear patrol
car to come closer.

It was a new Mercedes, courtesy of
the Four Aces but since it was new, it hadn't been lined with
bulletproof metal or glass and wasn't so much prepared for a
battle with the cops. For now, it was able to out-drive any cop
car. Against armed officers though, it wouldn't stand a
chance.

He couldn't see the driver but for
all he knew, they were good enough to pull up to the rear of a
truck that was over four times its size and fifty times its
weight. The car came close enough for Blackjack to simply step
onto the bonnet and crouch down once shots were being fired from
their rear. He could even the roaring sound of chopper joining in
on the chase. He leaned over and opened the door to the passenger
side and he jumped onto it, using the metal to protect himself
from the gunfire.

He looked at the driver who was
shouting something at him but his words stopped as bullets flew
through the rear windscreen pelted the driver through the car
seat. The car was out of control and all that was left for him to
do was jump off the car. As he landed and rolled between cars,
the Merc crashed into several cars before it collided with the
railing on the side of the highway, Blackjack was pretty sure the
dead driver flew through the windscreen and into the sea
below.

He had no choice but to take out
his other handgun and fire at the cops while he waited for
another car, more suited for a warzone, to pull up beside
him.

***

As Blackjack wanted it happened.
An all-black dodge charger with a knight from chess on the hood
and trunk speed in his direction. The driver was known by all as
the black knight.

Her car had armor on it and not
only that the driver had two guns installed on the sides and in
the car which was a manual on the shifter that she uses to shift
it into gears was a button on it for the guns.

She had noticed that the black
mercy was gone but she also noticed that a guy had jumped out of
it and needed help otherwise jail time was in stored for him. So
she spun the car around fast and made her way to him in hopes to
stop the police cars from getting to him. She let her guns fly
shooting at them and if that did not work she was going to ram
them if they got to close as she made her way over to
Blackjack.

Dark Knight pulled out her
cellphone while driving her car and called Blackjack.

"Blackjack, I'm coming to get
you." She called waiting for a reply as she made another turn.
She ducked when she heard a machine gun; she pulled out her gun
and began shooting as well.

Her reply finally came, "Good,
just keep driving".

Dark Knight hung up and continued
to drive in amazing speed while shooting at any cop, FBI, SWAT,
or any enemy of the sort.

***

Meanwhile, The Shadow Rider of the
Lord of Hearts decided to take his ride on a motorcycle. He had
two Honda cars after him on either side; with a gun in on hand
and the other one the handle of the motorcycle, he began shooting
at them on the head whenever they come out of the window to
shoot.

The Shadow Rider was known for
riding in the shadows of the daylight, he shifted his motorcycle
and drove into the shadows thus becoming invisible to the
enemies. Soon they started to randomly shoot in hopes they would
kill him. They missed every time and one by one they were
assassinated until the driver and the one who rode shot-gun were
left.

The ones on the shot-gun seats
rolled their windows down and began shooting at him but to no
avail, he kept on shooting brick walls and windows.

"Did you get him?" The driver
asked making a turn to the left.

The shooter ducked back in and
replied, breathing heavily, "negative. He's still alive".

***

Blackjack could feel the heat from
the bullets as they whizzed past. He ran in the opposite
direction of the truck and the police cars, seeing a familiar car
with mounted machine-guns blazing its firepower at the cops while
weaving towards him.

He ducked behind an abandoned taxi
after the driver decided to run once the shootout started. He
lifted his slightly to locate the cops who dismounted their car
and fired at them with his guns. He managed to hit both, one went
down but the other was barely affected. He broke from cover and
kept firing at the cops while the Charger made its way to
him.

As the bullets flew by her car and
some even pellet her car she knew this was getting serious. She
pulled out a stick of gum and popped it in her mouth and said,
"time to get serious and let the fun begin".

She then tossed on some sun
glasses and cocked a crooked smile and put the car into third
gear and picked up speed. She was now shooting some cop cars out
of the way and even ramming some others as she made her way fast
thou the horde right to Blackjack.

It took longer than he felt
comfortable with because the cops were overwhelming him and
closing in on his position. He was forced to crouch in the small
gap between two taxis, still under fire when the Black Knight
halted right by him.

He stood and walked towards the
car but instead of going for the passenger seat, he reached
inside the car's glove compartment and pulled out the SMG that
was lying there. He climbed onto the roof of the car, hoping she
didn't mind.

He banged on the roof of the car
while he shouted under the sound of gunfire, "Let's go! We need
to catch up!" He loaded the gun and held onto the body of the car
while she drove.

Dark Knight gave a cocky grin he
could not see and said "as you wish ". She spun the car around to
facing where she needed to go to head back to the rest of the
convoy and sped forward. She noticed some of the face of the cops
as it dawned on them who owned the black car with a chess knight
on top. She shot cars out of her way and even hit some cop cars
out of their way as well. She hoped Blackjack could hang on while
she did her crazy driving.

***

The Shadow Rider had enough and
blew at least three cop cars with an explosive disk bomb. He
activated the bomb and threw it; it landed on one thus exploding
three.

He noticed Blackjack and a very
familiar car which was owned by none other than Dark Knight
herself. He followed them on his motorcycle in the shadows of the
broad daylight.

Shadow Rider had to pick up the
pace in order to catch up, from afar he notice a few cops waiting
for them where they were heading, he flopped his cellphone and
called Blackjack, to warn him.

"Blackjack, there are cops at the
end of our road blocking us." He warned hoping they got the
message.

Shadow Rider waited for a reply as
he jumped a railing and over several shipping carts. He managed
to stick the landing and drive off without falling; four more
cars came in from behind and began shooting. There were no
shadows in the area so he'll have to drive faster.

***

Of course, the car had seemingly
nothing on its hood for him to hold on to. Nevertheless, he
managed to stay on the roof without falling onto the road. As the
drove past police cars that she hadn't already blasted through,
he laid down several rounds at the driver so they could not
follow them. The driver's death was the least worrying thing on
Blackjack's mind at this moment.

The most worrying was that there
was an important public figure leading the convoy who they had to
get to before the cops. He looked towards another vehicle who was
riding behind them, another familiar face on their motorcycle.
The Shadow Rider. His phone began to ring and it was none other
than the Black Shadow himself.

He listened to the warning and
nodded before sending his reply.

"Shadow! We need you to punch a
hole through the cars so we can follow you through to the
convoy!" He shouted at him through his phone, regaining his
balance on the car and hanging up.

He banged on the roof some more,
urging her to speed up. Dark Knight caught the message with a
grin and a nod and speed up.

Through the other line of the
phone, Shadow Rider ducked down as a bullet nearly took his head
off, he eliminated the shooter before turning his head back on
the road.

"That I can do sir!" He said as he
punched a hole with his gun through the cars so they could follow
without any more trouble than what they are already in.

***

Black Knight saw the bike speed up
and go in front of her and knew what he was doing. When she heard
the bang on her roof to speed up she did just that. She picked up
the speed pretty fast by shifting into fourth gear. She was not
going one hundred miles per hour and hoped that whoever got in
her way would not send Blackjack off her roof.

She kept the speed up following
the shadow rider and she thought when the three of them go
together nothing could stop them from getting to the convey. She
knew she had to protect the duke and his daughter with her
life.

Blackjack remembered Shadow's
warning and came up with an idea. He moved closer to Shadow so
that he could hear him clearer.

"I need you to get onto the other
side of the road and circle around the barricade. Do what you
have to make a hole through them!" He shouted at him.

Blackjack leaned over and climbed
through the open passenger window of the Charger and sat in the
passenger seat.

"Drop me off just before the
barricade ahead and then U-turn back. Go for a hundred yards and
then go up the other side of the road to the Duke and cover the
truck. I'll ride with Shadow." He explained, putting the SMG back
into the glove compartment and taking out his dual Berettas
again.

"So they send all they have do
they," she hit a button on her car and reloaded her machine guns
on the side and rolled down her windows. "Then I guess it's time
to send this car into death mode and show the world what dark
knight means ". She rolled up her window and pushed anther button
and the trunk popped open and two more guns popped out.

She was loaded now with four guns
and on top of that if she had to she will send out the rocket
launcher but that was the last resort. The rocket launcher came
out of the roof of the car behind Blackjack if she was going to
use she would have to tell him to get inside of the car but till
then the guns would have to do. Just then Blackjack was in her
car and she knew what she could do. She nodded her head and said,
"You got it".

She did as she was told sped up to
just before all the horde of cops pulled the car into a fast stop
and said "alright lets show the world what happens when the mess
with us time to get out for me to play mean". She pressed the
button and a rocket launcher was now on top of her car.

***

Blackjack got out of the car and
grinned once he saw the mighty rocket launchers unfold out of the
roof. He started firing at the cops, trying to keep the cops from
damaging the Charger too much and buying Shadow some time to get
around the barricade. He waited for the Knight to blow a hole in
the cops, knowing the power of the awesome RPG's.

As she looked right at Blackjack
as he got out of the car and gave him one of her famous crooked
grins before she sets one off. She then hit the button and
watched as one missile flew out of the gun and hit right in the
middle of the barricade.

She watched as one car went up in
flames and noticed that two and three more went up in flames. The
damage was done lives was lost but all she did was reload the
thing and waited for the right time to fire it off.

She wanted to make sure she was
not going to hit Shadow Rider. She did her u turn right after
that rocket and was now in front of the truck with the duke and
daughter.

***

Now was his chance to go around
the barricade, he had a sharp turn and pushed hard to build up
more speed soon after he pushed the breaks in front of
Blackjack.

"Need a ride?" He asked, with a
grin. Blackjack smiled at Shadow's wit, while taking a seat
behind him.

"Don't mind if I do." He said,
reloading his guns after almost emptying them. "Pull up next to
the convoy so we follow it home." He told him, putting the guns
back in his holster.

He sat comfortably and for the
first time since the whole battle started, Blackjack took a deep
breath and relaxed. The police had pulled back their forces after
their devastating losses and even the chopper gave up and went
back. He smiled, knowing that he'd have to buy Shadow and the
Knight drinks after this for saving his skin.

Shadow nodded and started up the
motorcycle again. He headed towards the convoy and pulled up
beside it so they could follow.

***

Knight saw the cops leave and
sighed, "Just when the fun starts you all run away with your
tails between your legs". She put the rocket launcher back into
her car so that the roof was complete.

The back seat was no more cause of
the rocket launchers so the charger became a two seated. She even
pulled in the guns from back but left the ones on the side in
case more trouble came along. She picked up speed as the convey
kept on going.

She was no longer in the lead but
beside the head truck, she did not want people thinking she was
in charge for he knew damn well the duke was.

The convoy eventually reached its
destination which happened to be the Duke's home in preparation
for a gathering he was planning in a week. But before any of
that, Blackjack still had to buy the Knight and the Shadow a
drink.

He waited until the rest arrived
to give them out their drinks and pay the bills as well.

"Another long fun day." He said to
himself as he watched the bartenders tend to other customers
while listening to other people's conversations.

***

Soon Dark Knight came and sat next
to him while they wait for Shadow Rider who was parking his
motorcycle in the shadows away from the other vehicles.

They visited the bar frequently
after almost every mission they do, it was a tradition to them
all.

Once Shadow Rider arrived,
Blackjack knew it was time, "so what'll be?" He started, leaning
back on the counter. "The least I can do for your services
today."

Shadow scanned through the
beverages seeking which he would like to drink. He found the one
to his liking and asked for Irish Ale. Blackjack nodded and asked
a free handed bartender for an Irish Ale.

Dark Knight did the same as well
and scanned through the drinks. The bartender, after giving
Shadow and Blackjack their drinks waiting patiently for Knight to
call out her request.

"A screw driver". She loved them
fruit drinks and this one had vodka in it. It was also made with
orange juice.

Blackjack nodded towards her and
also towards the tender who immediately went on to making the
Screw Driver for Knight. As soon as it was done, he slid it over
to her and she caught it with one hand.

Taking a whiff of the Screw
Driver, she exhaled at the smell of the drink. "Smells so
divine."

Blackjack's opinion of drinking
was the same as everything else; take it while you have it. He
didn't mind the occasional high from narcotics but he preferred
to keep his mind clear. He held his glass out to them while he
made a small toast to their efforts.

"To the Four Aces." He said,
smiling.

The rest raised their glasses and
repeated the toast before taking sips of the drinks they
ordered.

***

Dark Knight was the first to
finish her drink, she heard the door open and turned around, a
smile formed on her lips as she watched who entered the building.
A familiar face stepped in.

"Well well Death star is in the
house" she said with a smile as the girl made her way over to
them.

Death star was a pretty sight all
that blonde hair in curls bouncing around her head. She had
sparkly blue eyes that scanned the three of them with a smile.
She also had lushes red lips that curved into a nasty smile. She
wore a black leather body suit that hugged her body nicely with
black leather boots.

She got to the bar and said, "well
you three were great as always wish the duke would have let me
joined like I wanted but he said I needed to stay in the truck in
case I was needed to kill of cops that would have jumped onto the
bus and besides I had a mission to do after that ". She got
herself a drink and then turned to the three adding, "I was sent
to kill a private detective that was working undercover".

"Let's its good seeing you again
Death Star." Blackjack said calling out the tender to give Star's
request. Soon afterwards, Death Bringer came along. He was at
another table but once he looked up he noticed the four and
walked up to them with a broad smile through his baby face
figure.

"As I live and breathe. Death
Star, Blackjack, Shadow Rider, Dark Knight; what a pleasant
surprise." He said taking a seat beside Star as he sent in his
third request of Scots.

Dark knight looked over at Death
bringer and said with a smile, "well good thing you're on our
side otherwise death would visit once again and yes this is a
pleasant surprise."

Death star looked over at him with
a smile and said, "Well hello there as well." She went back to
her drink then turned to him and added, "How have you been death
bringer?"

Death Bringer smiled again and
replied to Star's question, "just swell Star, I had a few run
downs with the SWAT team but I also managed to steal their
weapons while they were either dead or while we were fighting in
close range."

Bringer took out a bag loaded with
various guns from the SWAT team and placed them spread out onto
the table for all to see.

Dark knight looked at the guns
with a smile but then went back to her drink. She was not much
into guns right now more into the drinks but she also had a car
loaded down with them. She soon stood up and said, "If you all do
not mind I shall hit the ladies room". She stood up and walked by
the men's room to get there and she thought she heard fighting
but then moved on to into the ladies' room.

Death star leaned real close to
all those guns and said, "Nice ". She picked one or two up and
played with it before putting it back. "Today was a good day
after all I saw the duke smile and say so and that is a rear
thing let me tell you".

Blackjack smiled and couldn't help
but laugh at the gathering of trained killers and
criminals.

"Looks like we'll all be getting
drunk together then." He chuckled, chugging down his glass of
whiskey before ordering the whole bottle. But then, a familiar
feeling came over him. An experience he recognized very
well.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies
and gentlemen, I gotta take a leak." He said, sliding off the bar
stool and lumbering his way to the bathroom.

***

While taking his leak, Blackjack
heard someone stepping out of one of the cubicles behind him and
before he knew it, a piano wire was around his rope as the
assassin tried to choke him.

He kicked off the wall, pushing
him and his assailant into the opposite wall where he got the
chance to turn and attack the assassin but another came from the
side, took his waist in their arms and threw him to the
floor.

He was entirely at the
disadvantage but he could still put up a fight against these
idiots. He blocked the blows from the assassin while he bore over
him before he grabbed his fist and thudded his head against the
assassin's.

It disorientated him and allowed
Blackjack to push him off but the other was on him, trying to
subdue him for the kill. But Blackjack was tougher; he stopped
his first punch and gave him a right cross at the jaw.

He got up and tried to find a
weapon but then both started simultaneously attacking him and it
was too hard for him to fend off all their punches and kicks. He
ended up being pushed into a cubicle where the lid to the toilet
seat broke off.

Blackjack managed to knock out the
one standing in front of him by kicking him hard enough so that
he flew back and hit the sink. He picked up the lid to the toilet
seat and swung it right at the other one's face and he wouldn't
be able to remain conscious after that hit.

Blackjack inspected himself in the
mirror and saw the cuts and blood all over his face and neck. He
splashed cold water onto his face, washing away the crimson off.
He stared at himself in the mirror for a bit before he decided to
send whoever tried to kill him a message.

He punched the glass and
naturally, it broke into several pieces. He took a shard out that
he could hold in his hand and crouched in front of the assassin
who had his head bashed in by a toilet seat. He grabbed his head
and started cutting across the man's neck, letting the blood seep
onto the floor.

He did the same to the other after
whom he dropped the shard of glass and covered his fingers in his
blood. He wrote on the mirror a few words, "better luck next
time". He cleaned his hands of the blood and then walked outside
and back to the bar stool like nothing was amiss.

"That went well." He said,
grinning like he did as he washed his hands and walking out of
the restroom.

***

Admiring the guns, Shadow shook
his head in amusement. "Gotta hand it to you Death Bringer, you
sure have a way with stealth."

Death Bringer couldn't help but
flush at all the comments he was receiving, "ah it was
nothing".

Blackjack came out of the restroom
as Star did as well, "somebody got on your bad side i see hate to
be them". She sat down beside him and sipped on her drink again".
She then looked around her at the gathering of people highly
wanted by the cops and thought to herself the cops used to run
the place but now they kind of do.

She looked back at Blackjack and
said, "Too bad I did not get to see the fight I bet it would have
been fun to watch you whip their asses". She then sighed and
said, "Wish the duke and his daughter was here after all Death
star is getting kinda board drinking is fun but so is
killing".

She was getting restless but that
was until Knight brought the girl anther drink and knew if she
got her wasted she won't be to edgy to kill something instead
maybe she could have some fun with her .

One thing was known the two girls
were best friends and they sometimes had slumber parties but they
were not pillow fights that where nice blood was drawn for they
kept each other fit and ready for battle.

"Believe me; you wouldn't have
wanted to be there." He said, recalling the time when he started
cutting their throats with the shard from the mirror and then
writing a message in their blood as if it was paint.

He can horrify even himself
sometimes but the most it did was make him laugh. Blackjack
always did manage to do worse things than that. He would have to
request an audience with the Four Aces in the morning, letting
them know of an imminent attack. They'd probably take it more
lightly then he was doing but at least they'd consider going
defensive.

"I have work to do in the morning
but I'm free for the night until then." He smiled, taking down
the bottle of whiskey.

***

Star smiled and said "free huh
this girl can think of a few things that would be fun of course
one will need to take some drinks to go no fun getting this death
star wasted without friends"

Knight walked up to the girl and
grabbed her bottle from her hand and said, "you know you could
always take me home Star I get wasted with you ". This caused
Star to laugh and said, "I know but I wanted to know what
Blackjack thought or maybe death bringer or shadow racer". This
caused a laugh to come out of Knight.

Meanwhile, Aileen was in the bar
wearing a hooded jacket as a disguise. She drank one bottle of
beer before asking for water. She was spying on the four but she
made it look like as if she were reading a menu.

She got up from her seat and sat
next to Star, ordering a second round hoping her voice would be
unrecognizable.

***

Blackjack took another swig of
what remained of his bottle but as he put it down, some part of
his memory began ticking upon hearing a voice. Somehow, he
recalled that voice from somewhere and it emanated from behind
Star. He slid off of his stool and looked behind Star to see a
hooded figure.

Typical, he thought why would
anyone wear a hood and hide their face in a place where people
want to be seen. He walked towards the person and did what he
thought was right according to his foggy brain and jacked up
nerves. He grabbed the back of the hood and pulled it down to
reveal a face he hoped would not venture to these parts.

"You can't be here, princess."
Blackjack spoke to her as he waited for a reply from the Duke's
daughter.